[Bilateral frontal theta-waves in EEG of 7-8-year-old children with learning difficulties: qualitative and...

We analyzed EEG recorded in the rest condition (eye closed) in 22 children aged from 7 to 8 years old who experienced learning difficulties and whose EEG recordings were characterized by sporadic short-term appearance of bilateral synchronous slow waves over the frontal and/or central cortices--frontal theta-waves (FTW). The vector autoregressive modeling was used in order to assess the strength of directed cortico-cortical functional connectivity pattern for FTW and for surrounding EEG. The comparison of the two patterns showed that FTW is characterized by diffuse strengthening of the functional links connecting frontal, central and (to some extent) temporal cortices as well as the links directed to the above regions from the other cortical areas. The results of the study suggest that FTW is most probably caused by the common for the fronto-central cortices neuronal theta activity synchronized via cortico-subcortical links. This suggestion is in a good agreement with the view that FTW reflects the alterations in functioning of fronto-thalamic system.